Time
by Dark R
Summary: This is the sequel to 'A.R.K.' Set in the past, it has Sonic's origin, and how Dr Ovi Kintobor became Dr Ivo Robotnik.
1. Default Chapter

Author's note: Just as the first story in this two-part saga, the story called 'ARK', took Shadow's origin and completely re-wrote it. This story 'Time' take's Sonic's own origin story and spices it up just a little.  
  
This story also set's out to tie up any loose ends that may have been left unthreaded in 'ARK.' This story comes from my head except for an idea concerning Sonic which Thalia Evans thought up. You'll see what that is at the end. Once again, thanks Thalia.  
  
You may find this story boring, or you may find that it is extremely interesting. Let your reviews tell me what you think. Enjoy.  
  
TIMELINE: Its set, once again, in the past. This time 32 years onwards from the events that took place on the space colony ARK. Everybody clear on that? Now lets get on with the story.  
  
~* * * *~  
  
Chapter 1: Survivors.  
  
32 Years ago.  
  
There had been darkness for as long as he could remember. But inbetween the darkness he did remember that sometimes there had been light, but only for a while. Then he was always returned to the darkness. He hated the darkness.  
  
He opened his eyes. The light was dimmer this time, it didn't hurt his eyes as much as before. He stared forwards at the lone figure that stood before him. Though he had seen this person before, he was normally accompanied by others. They always had looked at him as if he had let them down. But now the man was looking at him sadly. Was something wrong?  
  
He quickly glanced around the room. What he could see of it was weird bits of equipment he had no idea about. What they were for was beyond him, it didn't really matter. It never did as he never got to see it for long.  
  
The tall man in front of him, wore a long white overcoat, glasses and a steel grey moustache. He smiled weakly at him.  
  
He still felt a little groggy from the sleep. He wanted to talk, but wasn't sure what he would say if he did. Then the words came to him. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth.  
  
"Who am I? Where am I?" He said. He then stared at the man and added. "Who are you?"  
  
The man sighed in the darkness. The young hedgehog was barely older than five and he still didn't know his own name.  
  
"Your name is Sonic the hedgehog." The man said in response. "Where you are is not important as you will never see here again. What you need to know is this." The man walked forward into the light. "You are a hero, Sonic. You will always strive to help those that are less off than you are."  
  
The young hedgehog stared at the man with his childlike eyes. "Hero?" Sonic parroted.  
  
"Yes, Sonic. A hero." The old man said, smiling gently. "You have something good about you. Something pure. Something that may take a long time to fully surface, but never forget that you are special. You will always be special, and though you have too go now, I want you to remember this. In this world, no matter what happens, you will never be alone."  
  
Sonic's young eyes widened. "Why do I have to go?" He asked softly. He didn't want to go back into the darkness. Not again. Not ever. He hated it there. It was lonely in the darkness. No on could hear you scream there.  
  
The old man turned around and pressed something on a nearby terminal. He then stared at the computer terminal. Not looking back at Sonic, the man spoke. "You have to go because it is no longer safe for you."  
  
Sonic looked around from inside the capsule, his wide eyes taking in everything. The floor had begun to move. Was he being freed? The ground continued to shift and slide. What was happening?  
  
Sonic looked up at the man. "Did I do something wrong?" He said simply.  
  
The old man turned to Sonic, meeting his stare. Sonic watched as tears rolled down the mans cheek from behind his glasses. Before Sonic could say or do anything else he found that he to was crying.  
  
"No." The man whispered. "You have done nothing wrong. Your perfect just the way you are."  
  
The man walked forwards, as Sonic's capsule sunk into the floor. Sonic never once broke the stare between him and the old man. As the floor closed above him he begun to cry.  
  
Then the mans voice Sonic heard one last time. "I hope life treats you well, Sonic the hedgehog. Find your way to my grandson, Ovi Kintobor. He'll look after you." The floor closed above him and Sonic was once again trapped in the darkness he hated so much. Then there was a rushing sound and Sonic's capsule was shot into space.  
  
Sonic stared out at the new darkness he saw. It was unlike any darkness he'd ever seen. It contained hundreds of thousands of little white lights, all shining at him.  
  
There was a hissing sound from inside the capsule as some sort of gas was pumped back into the capsule. As Sonic breathed it in deeply he suddenly felt very tired. Closing his tear filled eyes Sonic the Hedgehog went to sleep as his capsule entered Mobius' atmosphere and plummeted to the surface.  
  
* * * *  
  
The Space Colony ARK had been home to hundreds, maybe thousands of people, all brought together by Dr Gerald Kintobor, probably the greatest scientist of his time.  
  
Most of the people gathered were scientists in their own rights and helped contribute to Gerald's dream. The creation of the Ultimate Lifeform. A creature that would guard and protect mankind forever. He, however, also created the Eclipse Cannon as a means of protecting Mobius from asteroids that could wipe out all life with one hit.  
  
Of course, his plans where well known but not everyone shared his dream. Some looked upon what Gerald was doing with threatened eyes. They believed that he would use his Eclipse Cannon on the world below, and then send out his Ultimate Lifeform to take control.  
  
The military organization called G.U.N attacked the space station and slaughtered or captured all who were involved. It was here that the Doctor's granddaughter, Maria Kintobor, was killed.  
  
Shortly afterwards Dr Gerald Kintobor was taken captive and transported to Prison Island, where he briefly joined his Ultimate Lifeform, 'Project Shadow', which had also been captured, before it was placed into hibernation.  
  
Gerald died on Prison Island. Whether he was killed, or died of natural causes, is still unknown but the military were still not content. There was still one person who could still prove to be a threat if he ever continued his grandfather's work. That person was Ovi Kintobor, grandson to Gerald, and brother to Maria.  
  
In an attempt to capture young Ovi, G.U.N had tracked him to his home where they had attempted to take him in. However, the mission had been met with failure as Ovi had escaped. Where to and how was never understood.  
  
Ovi had last been seen entering a portal of some kind, which the operatives of G.U.N had fired on. Then the portal had, in their own words, ceased to exist.  
  
32 years had gone by, and all who had been involved in the ARK incident had either died or disappeared leaving only questions, with hardly any answers.  
  
Facts became half truths. Half truths became stories. And the stories told tales of secrets, deception and ghosts.  
  
* * * *  
  
There was a ghost story that had been told to children for a few years now. It was of a house that resided in a small, abandoned and rundown district just East of the Metropolis Zone. The House of Screams, it had been called by the children.  
  
It was said to have once been the home of a human that had angered something of great power. This 'thing' had sent its little minions after the human who had run, until he was trapped here, in this very house.  
  
Here he was confronted by the minions who attacked him. For the crimes against their master the human had committed, the minions dished out to him the ultimate punishment. Summoning forth a huge white demon, the human had been fed to it and was swallowed whole. Inside the demon he would remain, tormented for all eternity.  
  
The reason the house was given the name The House of Screams was because people had said for years that on a quite night you could still hear the tortured screams of the human as he was slowly digested inside the belly of the beast.  
  
Of course the three Mobian children that sat inside the house now knew that there were no all powerful 'things' floating around, and they didn't have minions to do their every bidding. There was never a white demon and as for the human, well human's were said to have become extinct years ago on Mobius. Anyone who knows anything about human's knew that.  
  
The kids knew that it was just a story made up to scare them, just like all ghost stories.  
  
What the children didn't know was that every story, no matter how unrealistic it may sound, is based on something that actually happened.  
  
Stories are not made up. They're not just created. Stories live. Stories breath. They're told and retold over and over again. They change along the way, as knew things are added, but at the core their is a truth, or maybe a half-truth, spurring the story on.  
  
Sooner or later all stories once again became true.  
  
"I don't see what you guys where so afraid of." One of the children said. "Ain't nothing here but dust and webs."  
  
"What do you mean 'you guys' Sparky? Your the one who made the most fuss." Another child said.  
  
The child named Sparky smiled sheepishly. "I never said I was afraid."  
  
"Its written on your face." Another child spoke up.  
  
"It is not." Sparky said angrily. "You said that you were scared of this place, I remember. You said so the other day, Charley. I remember."  
  
"Will you guys hush all ready." Another voice said. "I thought I heard something"  
  
They all froze as they imagined all the something's that someone could possibly hear. Most of which included creatures with more eyes and tentacles than they knew what to do with.  
  
"What did you hear, Timmy?" Asked Sparky, suddenly very suspicious of the dust and webs.  
  
"I thought I heard something. Like a scream or something." Timmy said.  
  
"Stop teasing." Said Sally. She was a girl, and a stern believer that ghost stories were just stories. "That's the lamest thing I've ever heard. A scream in a house called the house of screams. That's so lame-!"  
  
"Hush!" Timmy said quickly. "There it is again."  
  
"Your hearing things." Sally said before anyone could even listen for sounds. "There nothing here but you guys and-!"  
  
Timmy clapped his hand over Sally's mouth, his eyes wide and ears pricked. And there it was. It started ever so quietly, but grew with incredible speed into something so terrible and frightening.  
  
The scream echoed through the house, scaring the living daylights out of the assembled children. In one movement they got up and ran. They ran with everything they had.  
  
The screamed echoed around the room as something sparked into existence. A moment ago there had been nothing there, but now a growing white screen was growing.  
  
The white screen grew to what must have been its full size before a face appeared on it. The face contorted in pain, as red electricity crackled about it. It then gritted its teeth, and let out one last agonized scream of pain.  
  
An outline of a figure appeared on the white screen, and then promptly fell through, collapsing to the ground, where it lay unconscious.  
  
The red electricity disappeared, and the entity, known as the Omni-Viewer, relaxed as the pain left. It opened its eyes and looked around the room. He then looked down at the human that had fallen out of him.  
  
"Ovi!" Omni-Viewer said. "Ovi are you Ok?"  
  
* * * *  
  
32 years ago a capsule ripped through Mobius' atmosphere and plummeted into and area just East of what is now known as Metropolis City. Tearing through what was once a vast forest, before it was cut down, the capsule hit the ground like a bomb, leaving a crater just as a meteor would.  
  
The capsule was damaged by the collision, but it was not destroyed. It had been built to last, just the same as the creature that resided inside.  
  
The damage caused the capsule to malfunction, causing its programs to acquire a technical glitch, which entered it into a state of suspended animation.  
  
At the bottom of its crater the capsule, and its occupant, slept. Over time the crater filled up with water and became forgotten by any that may have knew of its existence.  
  
The years past and the forest area was cut back to make way for the growing urban area now known as Metropolis Zone City, but the small patch where the capsule had hit, was never bothered. The City expanded Northwards, allowing the crash site to the East to stay untouched for 32 years.  
  
Considering the amount of time the capsule was under the water it did well to maintain itself for as long as it did. However, as was to be expected, the capsule finally breakdown and its occupant that had been sleeping for 32 years, was awoken.  
  
There was a sudden feeling of his air being pulled away from him as he opened his eyes once again. But this time he didn't see the dimly-lit room he had once been quite accustomed to. This time he found himself submerged in water.  
  
Like a child that had fallen into the deep end of a swimming pool, he begun to frantically try to escape the hellish nightmare as his panicking mind pumped adrenaline into his body.  
  
Looking upwards he saw the surface. Though he had never been in a position like this before he knew that by going up there he would become much safer.  
  
He reached upwards and kicked with his legs, but something held him in place.  
  
Turning to look down he found his foot was stuck inside the capsule. He reached down and pulled at his foot, causing the capsule to open even more releasing what was left of the air that was inside.  
  
His foot came loose, and as he turned to reach upwards something bubbled in his head. Something he would never forget.  
  
He closed his eyes as he got further and further up. His air was running out. He didn't have much time left. He had to make it.  
  
The surface of the pool exploded upwards as the brown hedgehog burst out of his own personal hell. He gasped in the air deeply. It hurt his lungs to do so, but it didn't mean that he'd stop. He wanted to make sure that the air never left his lungs again.  
  
He swam to the edge of the pool and hauled himself out. He coughed up some water that had gone down the wrong hole, as he crawled along the ground for a while, slowly swaying from side-to-side.  
  
"I- I hate water!" The hedgehog muttered to himself, and then collapsed.  
  
* * * *  
  
Ovi Kintobor slowly opened his eyes and raised his face off of the cold floor he was lying on.  
  
"What the-?" He muttered as he looked up to see his home. "What's going on here?"  
  
"Ovi, you are okay?" Came a voice from above.  
  
Ovi turned to see the Omni-Viewer. "What happened?" He said getting up. "What did you do? Where are the G.U.N soldiers?"  
  
The big white face of the Omni-Viewer took on a puzzled look. "Something happened." The entity answered. "After you jumped into me I was shot. The blast scrambled my circuits momentarily and I lost control of my powers."  
  
Ovi looked around the room. There was dust everywhere, as if the place had been abandoned for centuries, but that was impossible unless.  
  
"Omni, what happened? Why is everything so different?" Ovi said, glaring at the entity.  
  
"My powers span not only over space, but time as well. The blast caused me to enter a state of suspended animation, until my programs had fixed themselves." Omni said. "This they have done, but there was a side affect. I was created to work effectively within the dimension of my creators, and so I was made within the parameters of their homeworld's warped time and other oddities."  
  
"What are you telling me?" Ovi asked simply.  
  
"Had this happened while I was in the dimension of my creators I would have shut down and rebooted within a day or to. But Mobius' time is different. To my circuits I have been shut down and I have fixed myself in just two days. However, I have been out of commission here for far longer."  
  
Ovi Kintobor turned and walked over to the window. The blinds that once hung there had not doubt fallen, or been stolen, leaving the bare window for him to stare out of. Everything outside was different. In the distance he could see Sky Scrapers, had a new city been built?  
  
"How long have we been gone?" Ovi asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.  
  
There was a brief silence as the Omni-Viewer calculated this. "32 years, 3 months, 12 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes and 46 seconds."  
  
Ovi stared out of the window at the setting Sun. "What became of my family, Omni-Viewer?"  
  
The Omni-Viewer paused for only a second as its vast mind downloaded all information about the Kintobor family to appear over the last 32 years. "Your family died, Ovi." Omni answered finally. "Maria died aboard the space station A.R.K, where she apparently helped your grandfather's Project Shadow to escape. While your grandfather, Gerald Kintobor, died while in custody of the organization called G.U.N, which fell apart some 12 years ago."  
  
"So I'm the soul survivor of my family." Ovi said to himself, as he closed his eyes. A silent tear rolled down his face. "Can anything be done?" He muttered.  
  
"History cannot be changed, Ovi. This is how it was meant to be. To change the past could alter the present in ways completely unimaginable."  
  
Ovi lowered his head. "No. Ofcourse not. Who am I to change time?" He stood there, at the window, for what seemed like an eternity before he finally turned around to face the Omni-Viewer.  
  
"Well, shall we get to work. This place really needs a good cleaning."  
  
* * * *  
  
The cold air swept down through the tree's to an unconscious body as it begun to rain. The cold air and, even colder rain, caused the small animal to shiver as it woke up.  
  
The hedgehog got up. For a long while he just looked around, as the rain poured down on him, as if he was trying to find some sort of landmark. Finally he looked up into the night sky. The rain clouds where all around him, except for a small patch just to the right. It wasn't a very big clearing, but through it he could still see the stars.  
  
He didn't know why, but for some reason he could tell where he was just by looking at them. He could read them just as any normal person would read a map.  
  
Turning around slightly in the rain, he took another look up at the stars through the clearing, and walked in the direction something in his mind told him was right.  
  
* * * *  
  
Some two hours later Ovi Kintobor stood in the middle of a well cleaned room, feather duster in hand, wearing a pink apron.  
  
He smiled to himself. "Now that's more like it." He said to himself, as the Omni-Viewer came into the room. "Very homely."  
  
"I have finished, Ovi." The Omni-Viewer said.  
  
Ovi turned to the floating face and smiled. "What?"  
  
"You showed me your blueprints for the technology you had hoped to build one day before you started cleaning." The Omni-Viewer reminded Ovi, as it turned and lead him along the long corridor towards the back room. "I used my powers to create the machines you designed. Ofcourse, I had to modify various parts to make sure that they would work more effectively. I hope you don't mind, Ovi."  
  
"You had to modify my work, eh?" Ovi muttered. "Well as long as you explain to me what you changed, I guess we'll leave it down to teamwork. Oh, and do call my 'Dr' Ovi Kintobor, that is my name now after all."  
  
The Omni-Viewer floated on in silence smiling to himself. "Sorry Doctor."  
  
"So when you said that you built my designs," Dr Ovi started up again. "Just how many did you put together?" Ovi asked as he walked into the back room.  
  
Ovi instantly stopped as he stared into the back room. No longer than two hours ago it had been as empty as any other 32 year old abandoned house.  
  
But now, now it was jammed full of so much technology, that he himself had designed long ago, that his mind instantly begun to race through all the technological advances in science he could discover.  
  
"All of them." The Omni-Viewer said simply as it hovered in the center of the room. "Is that okay?"  
  
Ovi was gobsmacked, as he walked further into the back room. Finally he spoke. "This is simply incredible. You are simply incredible. This is fantastic! You are fantastic. Everything, its all here."  
  
Ovi looked around the room like a child who had woken up to find a huge pile of Christmas presents for him, and him alone. He then froze as he saw one machine in particular.  
  
It was something he had designed with his grandfather, the late Dr Gerald Kintobor. It was called the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor, or the R.O.C.C for short. Ovi and Gerald had designed it together as a means of storing Chaos Energy, and here it was every bit as great as he had always believed it would be. But somehow it still seemed empty without Gerald here.  
  
Unexpectedly there was a loud thud at the door. Ovi turned around, wiping the tears that had formed in his eyes away. "Who could that be?" He sniffed, walking back through the back room, and along the long corridor, to the front room as he headed for the front door. "The land lord, come to collect the 32 year old rent maybe?" He mused to himself in an attempt to lighten his spirits.  
  
He reached the door and pulled it open and let in a very cold wind, and a lot of rain. Ovi looked down on the silhouetted figure that stood before him. "And who may you be?" He asked.  
  
The brown hedgehog looked up at the figure in front of it. Its eyes narrowed.  
  
Sonic the hedgehog gazed up at the human in front of him. He looked familiar. He felt as though there should be a name that he should remember. What was it again? "Ovi Kintobor?" Sonic muttered.  
  
Sonic turned his head on its side and stared at the human, rain dripped from his soaking wet quills as he did so. This wasn't the human he remembered from what seemed like a lifetime ago. This one was younger and thinner. But the face, the face was almost identical.  
  
Dr Ovi Kintobor pulled the door open further allowing the light to shine out on the hedgehog, allowing him to get a better look at the small brown hedgehog.  
  
"Who are you, and how do you know my name little one?" Ovi asked.  
  
"Ovi Kintobor?" Sonic said again. "Are you Ovi Kintobor?"  
  
Ovi stared at the brown hedgehog, completely soaked, standing in the rain. "Yes. That's me. I am Ovi Kintobor. Now who are you."  
  
Sonic's little face smiled weakly. "My name- my name is Sonic the hedgehog." Said Sonic. "I'm a hero." He then collapsed forwards, hit the floor and fell unconscious. 


	2. History Retold

Five years ago, Dr Ovi Kintobor - the last of a great line of scientists - found himself blessed with a new leash on life. A second chance, you could say.  
  
Though he should have died some 37 years ago, he found a way to survive, and now here he was. Once again the name of Kintobor was stunning the world with wonders and achievements some people only dreamed about.  
  
Everyone knew that within his possession Ovi probably had the most advanced technology on the planet. He was constantly being approached by Government Officials to carry out sometimes very secret tasks, which he loved. It thrilled him.  
  
But it hadn't always been this way.  
  
Five years ago Ovi awoke to find himself the sole survivor of his bloodline. His mother and father had died of a crippling disease. Whereas his sister, Maria Kintobor, had been gunned down by an organisation called G.U.N, which was now believed to be disbanded.  
  
The same organisation had also been responsible for the death of his grandfather, the late Dr Gerald Kintobor.  
  
But G.U.N was no more, and when Ovi re-emerged, he did so without fear or hesitance. And now he was one of the most famous people on the planet. His writings on Quantum Physics still dazzled scientists today.  
  
For five years he had worked hard to achieve his wildest dreams, but in those five years there was one thing from the past that had remained almost untouched by him. But finally, that was about to change.  
  
"Hey, Doctor K." Sonic said, opening the door and walking in. "Why are you always so copped up in all your technology. Get out and have some fun for once."  
  
Sonic the Hedgehog had first came to Dr Ovi Kintobor five years ago as a scared and lost boy, barely nine years old. But over the years he had helped him grow into a confident, maybe sometimes over confident, teenager.  
  
"Ah, Sonic." Ovi said as he turned and picked up a pair of sneakers. "Where have you been, I've been waiting all morning for you to return."  
  
"You know I like to go for a run in the morning, Doctor K." Sonic said, smiling wildly.  
  
"Yes, about your running. These are for you. They're friction reducing trainers." Ovi said, handing Sonic the trainers. "I call them the Power Sneakers." He added before Sonic could ask.  
  
"What are they for?" Sonic said, taking the Power Sneakers. Ovi had been working on them for a while, and smiled with satisfaction with Sonic's enthusiasm. "They're to help you when your running. They can withstand greater speeds than your normal shoes, so they won't fall apart on your feet, and you can really let rip when running, letting us see just how fast you really are."  
  
"Faster than you think, Doc." Sonic said, slipping off his old shoes and putting on the Sneakers.  
  
"Guess you'll have to show me then, spike-ball." Ovi said, smiling to himself. "But not today. I've got a very important meeting I have to go to. I'll just get my coat and I'll be off." Ovi turned back around and headed for the stairs. "I trust you won't trash the place while I'm away this time."  
  
"Who me?" Sonic muttered. "Must have me mistaken for some other cool, brown hedgehog with Power Sneakers."  
  
Ovi smiled as he went up the stairs but stopped as Sonic called him.  
  
"Hey, Doctor K!"  
  
"Yes Sonic." Ovi said, glancing behind him.  
  
"Thanks again for the Power Sneakers, they fit just fine and they look good. They got a great name by the way, Doctor K."" Sonic said.  
  
"A great name, eh?" Ovi said as he smiled to himself. He then continued up the stairs. "I think the word you're searching for, Sonic, is cool."  
  
* * * *  
  
Sometime later Dr Ovi Kintobor stood in the Special Zone with the Omni- Viewer.  
  
In front of them stood all the representatives of the different factions of the Special Zone.  
  
"All I am saying." Ovi was saying. "Is that the Special Zone could benefit from it, that's all. I'm not trying to be a dictator and I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I would never do such a thing. All I'm doing is suggesting something that could benefit all the different factions of the Special Zone, as well as maybe even Planet Mobius should the opportunity ever occur."  
  
"We know what you are suggesting Dr Kintobor, but you have to understand our lack of eagerness to commit to your idea." Said Oreon the Bee, representative of the Hive. "The Special Zone has not had dealings with anyone from your Planet in almost 8000 years, and even then it wasn't good either."  
  
"None of us benefited from the Drakon having access to the Special Zone." Said Pliocene of the Armadillo's. "The Drakon where a plague wherever they went."  
  
"But the Drakon did not come from Planet Mobius." Dr Kintobor said.  
  
"No." Oreon the Bee agreed. "But they gained access to the Special Zone from it."  
  
Ovi sighed loudly as he raised his hand to his forehead. "Look, I have not come here to argue about what happened in the past. I'm here to talk about the future. My plan to start a team of protectors, or guardians, of the Special Zone and Planet Mobius still stands. I am only trying to forge something that can benefit us all equally."  
  
"And I suppose that you are going to run this little team of freedom fighters." Pliocene said sarcastically.  
  
"Oh no, not me." Ovi said, ignoring the sarcasm. "The Omni-Viewer will. He is from the Special Zone. Surely it best suits everyone if he lead the team."  
  
Suddenly everyone begun to talk amongst themselves. Glances were made towards Ovi Kintobor, and more importantly, towards the Omni-Viewer who floated silently behind the good Doctor.  
  
Finally, the talking stopped.  
  
"I think I can speak for everyone here when I accept your idea," Oreon begun. "Ofcourse it will have to be discussed in further detail before anything concrete can be laid down."  
  
"Ofcourse." Ovi said.  
  
"Good." Oreon said. "You may return to Mobius, Dr Ovi Kintobor. We shall call for you when we have reached our final decision."  
  
Ovi smiled and nodded. He then turned around. "Come on Omni."  
  
"Good Doctor." Oreon called.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"It would help if you could send Omni back to us after he has taken you to Mobius. There are things that we have to discuss with him."  
  
Ovi smiled again. "Ofcourse." He then turned back to the Omni-Viewer. "Take me home please."  
  
"Yes, Doctor." Omni said in response as Kintobor stepped inside him. He then vanished.  
  
* * * *  
  
Sonic stood in front of a mirror in Dr Kintobor's laboratory smiling to himself. "Now isn't that the best looking hedgehog to ever exist?" He said to the world in general. He then looked around, as if waiting for a response, then looked back at his reflection. "I don't hear anyone saying any different, so it just has to be true."  
  
Sonic smiled to himself as he turned away from the mirror. "I must say though, brown quills are so last year. Gotta find me a new color." He muttered. "And when I say that why does yellow spring to mind?"  
  
"Maybe in a previous life you were a raging chicken bent on mindless destruction!" Came a voice from behind Sonic. Sonic whipped around on his toes to see the familiar face of Dr Ovi Kintobor. "Hey Doc!" He said suprised. "Didn't hear you come in."  
  
"I believe you." Ovi mused. "A bit vain aren't you, Sonic?"  
  
"So how did the thing go?" Sonic asked, ignoring the question.  
  
"Fine. Fine." Ovi sighed. "I'll hear more about it tomorrow I guess, but lets forget that for now." Ovi said turning to walk over to the other side of the laboratory. "How did the search for the missing Chaos Emerald go then, Sonic?"  
  
Sonic smiled as he followed Ovi. "Found it with time to spare, Doctor K. You gotta find me a greater challenge next time."  
  
"I don't know if I'll be able to do that, Sonic, as that was the last Chaos Emerald you recovered. But I must say your speed at achieving my little tasks is incredible. I think its about time we saw just how fast you can go." Ovi then stopped in front of a machine. "That's why were going to try out this machine I had the Omni-Viewer build for me the other day."  
  
"What's it do?" Sonic said stopping next to the Doctor.  
  
"It's called the Kinetic Gyratoscope."  
  
Sonic looked up at the machine that was, initially, just a big wheel with flashy lights. "It looks silly, Doc."  
  
"Well, so do you, Sonic. But we both know different don't we?" Kintobor mused. "Seriously, jump on. It was made to measure your max speed." Kintobor said before Sonic could say a word. "All you have to do is run."  
  
Ovi then turned and walked over to a console terminal opposite the machine and switched it on. He turned back around to see Sonic still standing in front of it.  
  
"C'mon, Sonic. Lets get started."  
  
"You haven't tested this machine before now, have you Doc?" Sonic said, glancing at Ovi.  
  
"Well, err - No! Now that it comes to it I distinctly remember never getting to test run it." Ovi said more to himself, than to Sonic. "But what harm can it do? Look, the sooner you get on the thing, the sooner its all over."  
  
Sonic just stood there staring at Ovi.  
  
"Look, Sonic, its not dangerous."  
  
Sonic continued to stand there staring at Ovi.  
  
"Don't you trust my judgment?"  
  
Sonic continued to stand there staring at Ovi, and smirked.  
  
"Fine! Stay there. But when no female hedgehog's want to go out with you because your no longer the fastest hedgehog, you can't blame-!"  
  
There was a flash of movement, and Sonic was now standing in the middle of the Kinetic Gyratoscope smiling. "Ready when you are, Doctor K." Sonic said, cutting Ovi off.  
  
Ovi turned back to the computer terminal and grinned. Gets him every time. He thought.  
  
Slowly, at first, the inside of the Kinetic Gyratoscope began to revolve. Sonic begun to sprint as the inside picked up speed. Within a few minutes Sonic was running at a comfortable 25 MPH.  
  
"Hey Doc, these Power Sneakers are real cool!" Sonic shouted above the roaring of the machine, as the machine shifted into a faster speed setting.  
  
Dr Ovi Kintobor stared at the readings the machine was taking. Sonic was now running at close to 95 MPH, and the meter reader was still going up.  
  
This is amazing, Kintobor thought to himself. Sonic's actual speed could well be faster than I had ever imagined. He could well be the fastest creature on the Planet.  
  
Kintobor turned to look at Sonic, to find him smiling happily to himself. The machine had shifted up two gears and was a blur of light as Sonic comfortably ran at 257 MPH.  
  
Sonic's feet became a blur of movement as he got even faster again. Ovi stared at the meter reader. The numbers were still going up. 470. 471. 472. 473. 474 MPH. 475 MPH! How fast could Sonic actually go before even breaking into a sweat?  
  
Dr Ovi Kintobor opened his mouth to say something to Sonic when suddenly the terminal behind him begun to beep loudly. He turned, just barely able to hear the beeping above the somewhat strained roar of the Kinetic Gyratoscope, and read the console's reading.  
  
'Malfunction' was flashing in bright red l.e.d lights. Kintobor's eyes opened widely as he instinctually reached for the off button.  
  
Then suddenly he heard something just on the edge of hearing. Turning around, he looked back at Sonic. "What?" He shouted.  
  
"I-Said." Sonic shouted above the near deafening noise. "Now-I'm-Going-To- See-How-Fast-I-Can-Really-Go!"  
  
Kintobor's mouth opened wide. "SONIC, STOP!" He shouted. "The gyratosphere can't take any more!" But Sonic couldn't hear him above the machines roar as he, yet again, shifted up a gear. His feet blurred so much, Kintobor thought for a second that he could no longer see them as they moved at a speed Kintobor would never have thought possible.  
  
He gave the meter reader a quick glance. It was flashing on 758 MPH. Sonic was going so fast now that the gyratosphere could barely keep up with him.  
  
Kintobor watched as electrical sparks jumped from the machine. It was being pushed beyond its boundaries. It couldn't take the strain.  
  
Dr Kintobor turned his head behind him, to look back as the terminal, as an electrical spark jumped across his glasses, before turning back to the meter reader. Then he realized just how fast Sonic was going. He was approaching the sound barrier! 759MPH. This was impossible!  
  
All of a sudden the room was ignited by a blinding white light as the Kinetic Gyratoscope exploded with one almighty BOOM, consuming Sonic whole.  
  
"SONIC!" Kintobor shouted as he was thrown backwards by the blast. Kintobor rolled backwards, propelled by the explosion, and came to halt on his back. Slowly he got up, rearranging his glasses, and coughed out smoke.  
  
The smoke cleared as Dr Kintobor sat up. His eyes immediately focused on the meter reader, lying on the floor not that far from where he sat. On the readout the numbers had stopped at 761MPH. Sonic had broken the sound barrier.  
  
Slowly a figure stepped through the smoke. As it moved closer, Ovi Kintobor's eyes focused on-  
  
"SONIC?" Ovi Shouted.  
  
Sonic the Hedgehog stood in front of Dr Ovi Kintobor, but he wasn't the Sonic that Ovi had laid eyes upon not that long ago - not in terms of looks anyway.  
  
The explosion, caused by the sonic boom, had not only smashed the Gyratoscope to pieces, but the energy released by the explosion had somehow fused with and changed Sonic.  
  
Where Sonic had been a brown hedgehog before, with single brown quills, something had now changed him. His quills had fused together, taking a sleeker look, and his fur was now blue.  
  
Light gleamed off of Sonic as he smiled down at Ovi. "Take it easy, Doc. I'm Ok! In fact, I've never felt better!"  
  
Things were never going to be the same again.  
  
* * * *  
  
24 hours ago, Sonic the Hedgehog was reborn. It was during an experiment, in which a machine called the Kinetic Gyratoscope exploded after being pushed beyond it boundaries, and exceeded the Sound Barrier and exploded. The explosion changed Sonic.  
  
Somehow his body absorbed the energy generated in the blast, and it fused with him. Improving him. Bettering him. Making him not only feel cool, but look it too.  
  
After countless experiments on Sonic, testing his new power, Dr Kintobor's test's were finally complete.  
  
Kintobor finished taking his last reading, and examined the screen of the portable computer.  
  
"Well now - what do we have here?" He said thoughtfully.  
  
Sonic slipped off the table and got to his feet. "What is it, Doctor K?" Sonic asked.  
  
"What? Oh, nothing Sonic. Nothing to worry about. I'm just concerned by your powers, they seem a little chaotic at best, but they finally seem to be settling down."  
  
"That's great then. I was getting fed up of all the experimenting. I'm starving." Sonic said.  
  
Ovi looked down at his belly as it also growled. "Seems I'm hungry too. Looks like a snacks in high demand." Ovi said, turning and walking towards the fridge.  
  
There was a flash of movement and Sonic was in front of him, and opening the fridge.  
  
"Well isn't that just great." Sonic said reaching into the fridge. "All we have is an egg." As Sonic pulled it out the smell of the egg came with it. "No, I was wrong. A smelly egg!" He then handed it up to Ovi, who turned with it in hand.  
  
"Oh Dear! I must have forgotten to go shopping again." He muttered as he walked in the direction of the bin.  
  
"Euggh!" Sonic blurted out, screwing up his face as the egg's smell lingered at the fridge with him. "That egg stinks! How long has it been in there?"  
  
"I don't know, but I think its about time it was thrown out." Kintobor said turning around. "I'll just put this in the bin, then I'll go into Metropolis for some real eggs."  
  
Sonic followed after Ovi. "I could be there an back before you even reached the bin, Doctor K."  
  
"Bah! You know I don't like my eggs scrambled, Sonic." Ovi mused. "Besides I need to go out if only to waste time until the Omni-Viewer returns from the Special Zone."  
  
The was a flash of movement, and Ovi turned just in time to see it. "Sonic! Did you-?"  
  
"What? Did you see something, Doc?"  
  
Dr Ovi Kintobor stood very still. He had seen something, it had moved so fast that it was like it wasn't there, but he knew differently. But there was only one person who could move like that, and that was Sonic.  
  
"I-I'm not sure what I saw, Sonic." Ovi said stepping forwards, "I think I saw-!" And then it happened. A cable that had been lying on the floor suddenly sprung upwards, as if some unseen person was pulling it.  
  
"DOC, WATCH IT!" Sonic shouted, but it was too late.  
  
Dr Ovi Kintobor's foot got caught on the cable, and before he knew what was going on, he was tumbling forwards, straight into the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (R.O.C.C).  
  
This wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that the R.O.C.C wasn't full of all the negative and evil compressed Chaos Energy Ovi had taken out of the Chaos Emeralds in an attempt to purify them.  
  
Sonic was the fastest creature on South Island, and probably the entire Planet, but even he was not fast enough to save Ovi. Whatever came over him, as he watched in silenced horror as his only friend fell to an apparent doom, froze him to the spot where he stood. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. It was as if this was meant to happen.  
  
Ovi hit the R.O.C.C, and sparks instantly reached out to him, and whatever else they could touch, and engulfed Ovi completely. Ovi's agonized scream could be heard as the Chaos Energy soared through him, and then the R.O.C.C detonated, and filled the entire lab with flames!  
  
Sonic raised his hands to cover his face, as the flames consumed him. If this had happened to him 24 hours ago, he probably would've been burned alive. But not know. Not ever.  
  
The flames got fires going all over the lab, but Sonic didn't even turn to acknowledge them as he stared at what remained of the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor, completely engulfed in smoke and ashes, as something slowly began to get up.  
  
Sonic smiled weakly. "Ovi? Is that you? Are you okay?" He asked.  
  
The figure, still shadowed by the smoke, got onto its feet and stood upright. "I'm better than okay, you irritating little rodent." Came the response.  
  
Sonic's smile disappeared, and as the tall dark figure turned to face him, he stepped backwards.  
  
Sonic craned his head back as he looked upwards into a pair of bright red eyes. "Ovi?" He muttered.  
  
"Ovi?" The voice chuckled. "Ha! That name, and the person that it belonged to, no longer lives you eggsasperating little spikeball." The figure said, stepping forwards.  
  
"B-but, then w-who?" And then Sonic fell into silence as the figure emerged out of the smoke.  
  
He was tall, much taller than Ovi had been, and whereas Ovi Kintobor had been thin, this person was enormous and round. His hands, that where nearly as big as Sonic himself, extended their long fingers as he stared down on Sonic with those evil blood red eyes. What was left of Ovi's white lab coat hung in tatters from his body, revealing a black and red uniform underneath.  
  
"Ovi Kintobor is gone. Now and forever more I am Dr Ivo Robotnik!"  
  
Sonic stood there, eyes wide opened, staring at Robotnik, not knowing what to do. Then slowly an anger grew within him. He looked up at Robotnik and saw, for probably the first time, pure evil. His eyes narrowed as his anger grew. Gritting his teeth, Sonic clenched his fists as tight as he could.  
  
Not really knowing what he was doing, Sonic jumped at Robotnik, and curled into a ball. "I'll stop you, Robotnik. I'll stop you for what you've done to Kintobor." Sonic yelled as he begun to spin around Robotnik. "He was my only friend, and you took him away from me. For that I'll never forgive you."  
  
"Forgive me!" Robotnik said, trying to keep his eye on Robotnik. "I don't need your forgiveness, you miserable blue blur. I have been reborn! I'm greater than anything this world has ever seen. Greater even than you, hedgehog."  
  
"My name." Sonic growled, as he flew around Robotnik. "Is Sonic."  
  
Robotnik lashed out, surprisingly fast for someone of his size, and grabbed Sonic around the throat. "Indeed it is, Sonic." He said as he brought Sonic up to his eye level. "My memories of Kintobor's life are already fading, but I will always remember you, Sonic."  
  
"And when the last Mobian on this measurable planet falls to my dominion, I have no doubt that you will still be opposing me. But the day will come when you will zag instead of zig, or zig instead of zag, and that day you will die, Sonic. As I will take your bones in my hands and grind them into dust."  
  
"Hackk-! I'll stop -Gackk- you."  
  
"Perhaps you will." Robotnik grinned. "Perhaps you wont. That's what's going to make it interesting." Robotnik then threw Sonic, with all the force he could muster, at the lab wall. Sonic hit the wall, and fell to the floor in agonizing pain.  
  
As he walked over to Sonic's body, Robotnik tore off what was left of Ovi's lab coat, and threw it on the floor. "We'll meet again, Sonic, I have no doubt of that. But when we do, you better be ready for the fight of your life."  
  
Robotnik reached down and grabbed Sonic's head in his hand. He then lifted him up until his mouth was just next to Sonic's ear. "Embrace the power within you, Sonic, as I will embrace my own darkness. So that one day you can prove to me one thing."  
  
Robotnik then smashes Sonic, face first into the ground. "That I have not just spared your life in vain."  
  
As Sonic lay their he gritted his teeth as his anger swelled within him. But his body was to beaten up to do anything, and the anger quickly subsided as Sonic the hedgehog slipped unconscious.  
  
* * * *  
  
Sometime later Robotnik stood outside the still burning house of a Doctor Ovi Kintobor, who was already nothing but a fading memory.  
  
As it begun to rain, Robotnik continued to stand there , content on watching the house burn to the ground. He looked at a device he held in his left hand, and then smiled as there was a spark behind him.  
  
The spark became a flash of light, which was followed by an implode of sound, and as Dr Ivo Robotnik turned around, he found himself faced with a floating white screen with a face.  
  
The Omni-Viewer instantly floated backwards in surprise as it saw Robotnik. "Who are you?"  
  
Robotnik's face, wet by the rain, suddenly lit up as he grinned. "Dr Ivo Robotnik, future ruler of this world. And you are the Omni-Viewer, are you not?"  
  
"Y-yes." The Omni-Viewer said in response, still a little confused. "Where is Ovi Kintobor?"  
  
"Dead. Killed in that fire. You belong to me now."  
  
"I don't belong to anyo-!"  
  
But before the Omni-Viewer could finish his sentence, Robotnik slapped the device he was carrying onto the side of the Omni-Viewer. It sparked to life and the Omni-Viewer just floated there in silence.  
  
"As I was saying, you belong to me now, Omni-Viewer. As long as you have this device attached to you, your mine. Of course its power over you will eventually fade, but by then you would have helped me build my empire, and there will be nothing that you can do to stop me."  
  
The Omni-Viewer just floated there. He was trying to fight Robotnik's device, but he was loosing.  
  
"Give into it. It'll be easier that way." Robotnik turned and looked at the house of Ovi Kintobor one last time, before turning back to the Omni- Viewer. "Take me to the Special Zone, I have a lot to do!"  
  
The Omni-Viewer flashed as his face faded away, leaving a blank white screen. Dr Ivo Robotnik then stepped inside, and the two of them vanished into the darkness of the night.  
  
~The End~  
  
Hi. I hope you liked the story. I had hoped to really go somewhere with the ending, but realized it may be to much. Last thing I want to do is drag on and on and on.  
  
I must say it was interesting to write. I must thank Thalia Evans for her initial story idea and for allowing me to build on it.  
  
Thanks to all you guys and girls who have read this and enjoyed it. I did it for you.  
  
I feel as though I must say that this idea, no matter how good or bad it was, is completely independent of the actual Sonic the Comic timeline. And since Sonic the Comic Online has spring to life, and has continued from where the comics left off, my story kind of falls into the Alternate Universe category.  
  
A shame really, but I'm sure STC-Online will handle Shadow, and maybe even Sonic's true origin, in its own unique way. Until that day comes, you'll just have to be content with 'A.R.K' and 'Time.'  
  
Again thanks for reading the story. I hope to see you again one day, if I ever get around to writing another Sonic fic. But that may be a long way away, as I have a lot of other projects to do before I can sit down and relax.  
  
Well, one day. Until then. Bye.  
  
Daniel Jones Jr (Dark R). 


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